


Closet Space

by totalnerdatheart



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, BAMF Clint Barton, BAMF Phil Coulson, Clint Needs a Hug, Clint does not like Green Arrow (except when he does), M/M, Phil is a dork, Sharing Clothes, Steve is a swell guy, author does not know what apartments in New York looks like, boys being adorable, the grey Henley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-16
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-26 19:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totalnerdatheart/pseuds/totalnerdatheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“My mama always taught me you could learn a lot about a person by what’s in their closet.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closet Space

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to orderlychaos, ralkana, phae, and feelschat for all of your help. 
> 
> All mistakes are my own.

**Closet Space**

**1.**

Clint watched in a shaded alleyway as Agent Coulson left his house in the early morning, and quickly made his move. When he got to the door he grinned at how easy it was to open, how anyone could call Coulson a bad ass was beyond him. The man was just a pencil pushing suit and Clint had no idea how the man got to be such a whispered legend in SHIELD.

Clint took a quick note of his surroundings. Coulson’s apartment was small and cluttered, and looked well lived in. The walls were painted in warm tones, the leather couch looked large and comfortable, and the kitchen looked well used. The entertainment system was impressive, and Clint didn’t know a lot about comics or books, but the book shelves filled with them seemed impressive as well. There were pictures on the wall of people who could only be Coulson’s family; and Clint decided to ignore the pang of jealousy he felt that Coulson clearly had a life outside of work.

He made his way through the apartment, stopping only to inspect the vintage posters that hung in the hall. He eventually made his way to Coulson’s bedroom, and took a moment to just stare at the large bed that took up most of the room. To say that the bed looked comfortable would be an understatement and Clint started to wonder if maybe Coulson wasn’t as boring as he looked. He was tempted for a moment, to look through the drawers besides the massive bed, but he came here to look through one thing and he had no idea when Coulson would be coming back. He turned his back towards the bed and made his way to the one door that would hopefully tell him everything.

Clint always believed you could tell a lot about a person by what’s in their closet.

Clint opened the door and found the light switch, snorting when he saw that it was a small walk in closet. One side of the closet was mostly organization, various blankets, boxes, and containers of all shapes and sizes. There was a large safe that Clint made note of to try and break into a different day, because for now he just wanted to look at the other man’s clothes.

When Clint turned to look at the wall that held the clothes he made an audible gulp at the sight of a gun pointed directly at his face.

How the hell did he not hear Coulson?

“I suspect you might need to go through more training if you can’t properly follow someone and break into their house. I’ll be sure to tell Hill of this.” Clint couldn’t think of a response, so he only shot Coulson his best glare. The bastard smiled. “Is there a reason you are in my closet Barton?”

“My mama always taught me you could learn a lot about a person by what’s in their closet.” Coulson shot him a curious look.

“And what have you learned about me Barton?” Coulson finally holstered his gun and Clint found it easier to breathe. He didn’t sound angry, but Clint was learning very quickly that Coulson was a lot more than what he seemed to be.

“That you are a man with too much shit.” Coulson looked at him for a moment and barked out a laugh; Clint couldn’t help but join in at the sound. Coulson had a nice laugh.

“You are going to keep my life very interesting Barton,” Coulson smiled at him, real this time, and Clint tried not to think of how nice the other man’s smile was. “Come on in the kitchen, I’m making waffles.”

 

**2.**

“Thanks again for letting me borrow a suit boss.” Coulson just rolled his eyes and pointed to the bedroom giving Clint silent permission while he talked on the phone. Clint made his way to the bedroom, and laughed softly at the memory of the first time he’d been here.

Who knew breaking into Coulson’s apartment and eating waffles would be the beginning of a friendship?

Clint opened the closet door, turned on the light, and sighed loudly. He had almost forgotten that Coulson had a lot of suits, probably more than one person should have.

Most of them Clint recognized from work, but a few Clint had never seen before. Clint didn’t know a lot about suits, or clothing in general, but these looked much nicer than the ones Coulson wears on a daily basis. They were all in clothing bags of some sort, and Clint pulled out the charcoal grey one that had caught his eye.

It was a nice suit, closer inspection showed pinstripes that shined in the light ever so slightly. It was a three piece set, and Clint could almost imagine how handsome Coulson must look in the tailored suit. Clint grabbed a white dress shirt to go with it, and decided that Coulson should probably help him pick out the tie, since he had no idea which one would go with the suit.

Clint shook his head at his own thoughts, when the hell did Coulson become handsome?

He took off his clothes, left them in a pile, and took the suit out of the garment bag. He pulled on the pants, they were a little loose around the waist and the pants were just a shy longer than what he liked, but he had a belt and it would still look better then showing up to a wedding in jeans. He put on Coulson’s white dress shirt and tucked it into the pants. It was a little tight around the shoulders, and the sleeves were to short, but Clint was already planning on rolling up his sleeves for the summer wedding anyways. He decided to skip the jacket, already knowing that it won’t fit, and pulled on the vest, adjusting it to make sure he didn’t look like an idiot.

When he turned around to look in the mirror he stopped to see Coulson staring at him. There was a look in the other man’s eyes that Clint couldn’t interpret, but it was gone in an instant, replaced with his usual calm.

“Is it okay if I wear this one? I can totally wear a different one, if this suit is off limits or something.”

“No, you can wear that one. It fits better than I thought it would, you’re a bit more muscular on the top then I am.” Clint wasn’t sure if that meant he looked alright or not, and Coulson must have seen his uncertainty because he smiles gently, a smile that Clint has learned was only for him. “You clean up nice Clint.”

“Thanks boss,” Coulson walks into his closet and picks out a deep purple tie. “I uh… I only wear the clip on ones.”

“Not a problem.” Coulson turns Clint towards the mirror and stands close behind him. “Watch.” Clint watches as Coulson slowly puts on the tie. It’s memorizing somehow watching Coulson’s hands weave the silk around his throat, tucking it into the vest, and smoothing out any wrinkles.

“Thanks.” Clint’s voice is rough and he isn’t quite sure why. Coulson just smiles and Clint sees that _look_ in his eyes, but once again it’s gone in an instant.

 

**3.**

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Some bastard made me come I my pants last night like a teenager, and I need to meet Nat in a half hour.” Clint shoots Phil a glare, but there’s no heat behind it. Last night had been amazing, and if Clint could have stayed in bed all day with Phil he would have.

“Just borrow something of mine to wear.” Clint shrugs, and saunters his way to the closet door, knowing Phil was enjoying the show.

Clint grabs a pair of boxers, the batman pair because he has plans of Phil undressing him tonight and he wants to see the other man’s reaction, and grabs a pair of jeans. Once he’s half-dressed he takes his time to look through Phil’s shirts. The guy’s a dork so he isn’t surprised to see various graphic t-shirts, and he only rolls his eyes at the site of a few sweaters vests, but what does catch his eyes is a soft looking grey Henley. Clint pulls it on; admiring the way the soft fabric feels against his skin.

“I’m claiming this shirt as my own,” Clint pauses from putting on his own belt to see Phil looking at him from the bed. Phil is looking at him with a heated gaze, and Clint can’t help but feel like prey in the predatory look. Phil gets up from the bed, seemingly not caring at all that he’s naked, and Clint knows that Phil is only naked to be a tease. “You’ll never get it back.”

“It’s a favorite of mine though,” Phil makes lazy kisses up his neck and nips at his ear slightly, drawing a moan from Clint. “I would be so disappointed to see it go.” Phil continues to kiss and nip at his neck, and Clint thinks of skipping out on lunch with Natasha, but his phone goes off with her custom text tone, and Clint knows from experience, that it’s never a good thing to leave the Black Widow waiting.

“You just gave me a hickey didn’t you?” Phil actually giggles into Clint’s neck, and if Clint wasn’t gone for the man already, he was now. “Possessive bastard.”

“I’ve been accused of worse.” Phil kisses him deeply and smacks his ass before throwing Clint out of his bedroom with instructions to meet up for dinner later tonight.

Natasha takes a picture of the hickey.

 

**4.**

Clint wakes up to Phil growing stiff in his arms, and the feeling that something isn’t right. He feels Phil tapping against his hip in Morse code: _intruders in the apartment, I counted three inside, two outside the window_.

Clint carefully shifts so that he and Phil aren’t entangled with each other anymore, making it easier for both of them to fight off the intruders. Clint taps Phil’s hand: _getting bow from closet, go under bed, wait for signal_.

For a moment Clint thinks Phil will fight him, argue that Clint shouldn’t be exposing himself like that, but instead he just nods and signs a quick _I trust you_.  

The moment they roll from their positions, the window shatters and two people break in. They aren’t very large, but they are armed to the teeth and Clint really doesn’t want to try to fight off these guys without any weapons himself. Phil throws himself at the two men and Clint swears before ducking into the closet. He races over to the safe and makes quick work of the lock, smiling slightly at the fact that the combination was his birthday. He hears grunts outside the door and decides to grab one of Phil’s new tasers from Stark along with his crossbow.

When Clint breaks through the door again, he sees one of the goons on the ground, and Phil wresting with the other one. For a moment he questions whether Phil would need help or not. His decision is taken from him when the door breaks down and the three guys are yelling at them in German.

“What are they saying?” Clint throws Phil his taser and Phil makes quick work of the guy holding him down.

“They want to know where the files are.” Clint shoots his attacker in the knee and knocks him out cold with his elbow.

“They do know you would never keep them here.” One of their attackers stops to take out a radio, but Phil head-butts the guy before he can call for backup. Phil grimaces slightly and Clint takes out the last goon with a new move he had learned from May earlier that day.

“I broke my glasses.” Phil looks oddly adorable at the moment, standing in his pajamas while cradling his broken glasses. Clint huffs out a laugh and grabs his cell and texts SHIELD’s emergency response hotline.

“We can get you a new pair, maybe something more modern. Those wire frames were getting old.” Phil stops from where he is tying up one of their attackers, and makes a face like he wants to argue with Clint, but instead just nods his head in agreement. Clint smiles smugly, because honestly, he’s been having plans to “accidentally” break Phil’s glasses for a while now.

“You just want me to get a pair like the ones you saw in that magazine.” Clint gives Phil his most innocent look, but he isn’t fooling anyone, and Phil snorts in amusement. “Fine, but you have to wear the shirt.”

Clint groans, because he really doesn’t want to wear the Green Arrow shirt, but if it means Phil can look like a sexy librarian, he’ll wear the whole costume.

 

**5.**

“Fantasia,” Steve has a smile on his face and Clint would have given anything to tell Phil that Captain America liked the same movie they did. “I saw this movie with Bucky. We snuck in through the back; I was so worried we would get caught.”

Clint laughs, a little hysterically, because Captain America broke into a fucking movie theater and he has memories of doing the same with Phil, and the whole situation is just so surreal.

“You can have the poster if you want, I mean, it’s the least I can do for you helping me move all this stuff.” Clint doesn’t tell Steve how Phil had surprised him with the poster when Clint had moved in with him. He also doesn’t tell Steve about how they curled up on the couch that night to watch the movie, or how they fell asleep on the couch that night.

Steve just offers Clint a tight smile and carefully removed the poster from its frame and into one of the many poster tubes Clint had remembered to pick up when he went and got boxes that morning. He leaves Steve to continue putting away the posters and makes his way to the one room that Clint hasn’t been in since he found out about Phil’s death.

The bedroom is dark and when Clint turns on the light he feels like his breath is taken from him. The bed is unmade, but it’s what lays in the middle of the purple sheets that make Clint’s heart break. It’s the grey Henley, the same stupid shirt that the two of them would always wear when the other way away.

In a fit of rage Clint goes towards the bed and grabs the shirt. He tears apart the fabric; and he feels satisfied that the shirt didn’t rip easily. Clint thinks that this might be when he finally breaks, but his rage dies down, and still there are no tears.

Phil would have cried.

A knock at the door thankfully interrupts him from his thoughts and Clint turns towards where Steve is standing with a sad expression on his face, holding a large stack of empty boxes.

“Do you want to start on the closet?” Clint nods, not quite trusting his voice at the moment and begins the daunting task of emptying out their closet.

It takes a couple hours, and Clint is so glad Steve is quiet in the beginning. But soon Clint is telling Steve stories about Phil, and all the things in their closet. He tells him about the time Phil wore a white suit when he was undercover as a drug lord, and Clint tells him about how they both dressed up for the seventh Harry Potter movie. They laugh a little, and Clint feels like a large portion of the weight on his heart has been lifted.

“Oh…” Steve trails off and Clint turns his head to see the box holding his Green Arrow costume on the ground. Steve is crouched in front of it, holding a small velvet box in his hands.

“Leave,” His voice is horse and Clint can feel the tears, he can feel the break down, and he does not want anyone to see it. “Please Steve, just…”

“Yeah, I’ll finish packing up the kitchen.” Steve squeezed his shoulder and quickly leaves the room. Clint can see him pull out his phone, no doubt to try and ask Natasha what to do, and Clint feels grateful that Steve isn’t leaving the apartment altogether.

Clint opens the ring box slowly and takes out the simple platinum ring. There’s a small engraving of an arrow on the inside along with both of their initials.

Clint slips the ring on, and finally cries.

 

**+1**

 There’s snoring coming from the living room, and Clint sighs. Phil must have been really tried to have fallen asleep on the couch, again.

He makes his way into the living room slowly, careful not to wake up Phil. He stops and smiles at the sight of Phil passed out on the couch, snoring loudly with his mouth open ever so slightly. He’s snuggled into the throw blanket they had gotten as a wedding present from Natasha, and he was still wearing his glasses. What made Clint really smile like an idiot though, was the sight of Phil wearing a bright purple set of Hawkeye pajamas. The pair had been part of the new Avenger’s Pajama Collection and Clint loathed them.  Phil however, thought they were wonderful; the dork.

Clint shakes the other man’s shoulder gently and holds in a laugh when Phil jumps to attention, ready to attack.

“It’s just me babe.” Phil pushes up his glasses and pulls Clint down for a sleepy and rather clumsy kiss. The whole scene feels domestic and Clint sometimes can’t believe what his life has become. “Tough day?”

 “Not really, I did mostly paperwork today. My team seems to build up a lot of it.” Phil sounds fond, and Clint thinks back to all the times Phil complained about his team being ridiculous, and how they were bound and determined to bury him with paperwork. “How was the mission?”

“Easy, Sam ended up doing most of the work.” Phil smiles again and pulls Clint down till they are both snuggled up on the couch. “You’re wearing the pajamas.”

“I was cold, and these are fleece.” Phil looks smug and Clint just rolls his eyes and snuggles into Phil’s side.

They fall asleep on the couch, their hands intertwined and their matching rings clinking together with every soft movement.

_fin_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> :D


End file.
